Charlie St. Cloud

The truth about “Charlie St. Cloud”? If not for Zac Efron, it would have been Lifetime or Hallmark Movie territory all the way.

The story – boy loses little brother in car accident, boy plays catch with dead brother every night for five years, boy meets girl who has him thinking in a brand new life-affirming way – is alternately predictable and downright weird. It’s all bathed in a honey glow, though shots of shirtless Efron remain unfortunately in the dark.

And yet, it’s impossible to actively dislike “Charlie St. Cloud” for one reason and one reason only:

Zac Efron is the real deal.

Even with a terrible script and a less than stellar supporting cast (cameos by Kim Basinger, Ray Liotta and Donal Logue excepted), the guy never fails to shine. His genuine earnest charm made me care about his odd duck of a character, who works in a cemetery and talks to the dead, like Haley Joel Osment, only legal and way more comely.

And I can see why Efron and his people chose this as his first “adult” project. Here, he gets to swear and have sex (well, it fades away but you get the picture), but not play so much against type that it alienates his considerable young fan base. Hopefully he’ll soon branch out into indie drama or blockbuster rom-com hero territory, but I have faith we haven’t seen the latest of this rising star. Or his abs.

DVD extras include commentary, deleted scenes and an Efron-based featurette.